{"product_id":"winged-lion-with-shield-marble-statue-180cm","title":"Winged Lion with Shield Marble Statue - 180cm","description":"\u003ch3\u003eDescription\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA winged lion sits square to the front, jaws open and both forepaws upon a shield. The wings stand vertically behind the shoulders, each cut in long tiers of overlapping feathers. The mane is full and deeply undercut. A shaped shield stands between the forepaws, carrying a lion mask cut deep and proud. A plain scrolled roll runs above and below the mask, and both are left uncarved. It sits on a stepped plinth with projecting canted corners. White marble with fine grey veining and a light even fleck through body, wings and plinth. The name we were given calls this a griffin; it is not one, and the note below says why.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eCanted Corners Dressed True, and the Shield Set First\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo things on this piece have to be right before the beast can be carved at all. The plinth has projecting canted corners, which means it does not bear on a simple rectangle - each canted face has to be dressed dead true or the whole set rocks, and a rocking plinth under three and a half tonnes is not something that can be shimmed away afterwards. And the shield has to be cut to its finished height before the forepaws are shaped, because the paws rest on its top edge and their position is taken from it. Carve the paws first and the shield either has to be made to fit them, which shows, or the paws float above it, which shows more. So the sequence runs plinth, shield, then animal, which is precisely backwards from the order a viewer reads them in.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA seated winged beast with a shield is a guardian figure and it does what guardians do: it marks a threshold. Gate piers, the foot of steps, either side of an entrance, the ends of a balustrade. It reads strongly as one of a pair, and a pair either side of an opening is what the pose is composed for, so it is worth deciding that before one is placed. At 180cm the shield sits at about waist height, where its mask can be read close to. That matters more than it sounds: the lion mask on the shield is the finest carving on the piece and it sits low, where a passer-by will meet it at arm's length. Vertical wings need air above them and nothing overhanging.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eA Gateway Beast, and Where the Mask Sits\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwenty to twenty-two weeks. Dressing the canted corners of the plinth true opens the work, since an uneven set would rock everything above. The shield is then cut to its finished height, and the beast roughed above and behind it with the forepaws taken from the shield's top edge. The seated body and haunches come down next, both wings held as thick vertical slabs and thinned in alternation. The mane is undercut late, lock over lock. The lion mask on the shield is carved last of all, deep and proud, once nothing heavy remains to be done near it. No pin, no dowel and no filler in beast, shield or plinth; the courses bed dry. Some 3,403kg across beast and plinth, craned apart and bedded onto a prepared footing. Our main studios are in the UK (Birmingham) and Dubai, with additional global workshops.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGuardian beasts recur across \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/animal-sculptures\"\u003eanimal sculptures\u003c\/a\u003e, and gateway pieces suit \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/garden-statues\"\u003egarden statues\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSpecification\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ctable class=\"spec_table\"\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHeight\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e180cm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBase\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eIncluded\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHand-Carved Natural Marble\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Giant Sculptures","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53836687442267,"sku":"MST-ANI-114","price":25656.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0869\/3383\/2027\/files\/MST-ANI-114_1.jpg?v=1787174880","url":"https:\/\/giant-sculptures.com\/products\/winged-lion-with-shield-marble-statue-180cm","provider":"Giant Sculptures","version":"1.0","type":"link"}